Summer Movie Madness - Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters is just flat out silly, zany fun. Yes I saw the original and it was silly zany fun too. I am not going to compare. As far as I’m concerned this movie stands on its own.  Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon are a strong group of comedic women. Some nut case hotel janitor has designed equipment in the basement to unleash the haunts of New York. Paranormal measurements are through the roof, and McCarthy’s seeing the fruits of her labors. She and McKinnon have been working on a shoe string budget out of a no-name school studying polarities, vortexes, and other mumbo-jumbo that adds up to ghosts.  Wiig’s tried to climb the noble path of academia, but gets derailed by social media and her former partner. Now she’s drawn back in for the sake of science.

And Leslie Jones works for the MTA. She encountered the nutter AND a ghost creature in the subway. She’s a believer AND she has her uncle’s vehicle to use – is it a hearse? Oh you bet. Yes, the women arrive with equipment to capture ghosts. They stream a force field, etc. Yes, Wiig keeps getting slimed. And cameos abound from the original – keep your eyes peeled for Bill Murray, Annie Potts, Dan Ackroyd, Ernie Hudson, a bust of the late Harold Ramis (comedy genius), and Sigourney Weaver. As I said, this movie is glorious summer fun. Zingy lines, good effects, the New York skyline. What’s not to like?

Kudos to Kate McKinnon – she absolutely cracked me up. As we know from her Hillary sketches on SNL, she can do wide-eyed crazy very well. In this movie, she steals scenes as you wait to see what she’s gonna do next. I actually went into this movie with so-so expectations. I planned on being amused, but frankly it had many laugh out loud moments. Ray cracked up too and we gave it a thumbs up for our five dollar each matinee investment.

Who you gonna call for two hours of cool theater fun? Ghostbusters…….I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.

Movie Review: Spy

Here's a review I never posted. Now this is out on DVD,etc.  Enjoy

CIA analyst Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is the brains behind Bradley Fine (Jude Law). She’s in his ear as he covers the globe in daring spy adventures. Unfortunately, Fine’s been killed (??) by Bulgarian arms dealer (Rose Byrne) and it’s time for Susan to get out in the field and track her. No one knows Susan, so she’s the best CIA option. From the James Bond-like opening credits of Spy to the closing credits, this movie is a hilarious romp. It’s a hoot.  

McCarthy is funny physically and verbally. She’s believable as a spy who’s making it up as she goes along and ends up “befriending” Rayna while saving her life. Byrne’s Rayna is over the top funny with a ridiculous hair-do and accent. As they criss-cross Europe together pulling together funds and making contacts, the laughs (and bodies) pile up. Who’s on to whom? What crazy scheme will Cooper pull now? She has her CIA boss, Allison Janney at wit’s end with assorted shenanigans. Meanwhile, Cooper’s British co-worker joins her and she’s hilarious. Jason Statham has gone CIA rogue and he’s a help and hindrance in the plot twists.  

I can’t explain more. I liked Spy a lot for its silliness and for Melissa McCarthy’s performance. She carried this flick and is worthy of good comedic scripts.  Get your passport stamped and your stomach ready for belly laughs.

 

Movie Review Madness: St. Vincent

St. Vincent is a predictable and yet heartwarming tale about the saints you don’t recognize immediately in your own neighborhood.  Maggie (a charming Melissa McCarthy) and her son Oliver (very cute Jaeden Lieberher) move next door to a foul mouthed drunk codger, Vincent (an irascible Bill Murray). She’s trying to start over through divorce. Oliver, a runt, has to endure the trials of being the new kid at St. Patrick’s school. He’s beat up, Vincent teaches him to fight. He needs some after school care. Vincent needs money, so agrees to sit. He takes the kid to the horse races, to a bar, and of course, teaches him some life lessons.  

We do see Vincent help a pregnant “lady of the night” who’s his friend (Naomi Watts with a Russian accent). We see him visit his wife who’s now in a home. She doesn’t recognize him, but his love shines through and he does her weekly laundry. He’ll do anything to keep her in the nice assisted living. Tough times can call for desperate measures, and we see Vincent at his worst too. He suffers a stroke, and Oliver stays close. They all work to get Vincent back on his feet. When the teacher priest (Chris O’Dowd) assigns a project – report on a saint you know – Oliver does research on his unsung hero.  

St. Vincent was an entertaining movie matinee. Plenty of chuckle lines, and a chance to sniffle too. Bill Murray is a loose cannon these days, and is great in this part. He can be snarky and yet caring. The young actor is winsome, tough, and holds his own. All in all, Vincent is right when he says , “You don’t know me.”  We really don’t know the true story of our neighbors and their lives, and often we should give folks more credit. St. Vincent doesn’t count as church, but maybe one rosary bead credit.

Movie Review Madness - The Heat

Just so my readers know, this crush of movie and book reviews has accumulated over the past two months. I haven't done a marathon of movies and reading in one weekend. They've piled up and I decided to have a Madness week or so.  Here's another one:

Not many critics' fave, but The Heat is a hysterical female buddy cop flick. I give this a thumbs up for sheer laughter and snappy dialogue. Sandra Bullock, our straight-laced uptight FBI star, is paired with Melissa McCarthy, a sloppy Boston beat cop detective with common sense, mad skills, and a fearless recklessness. Both women have to learn to work together as they close in on a drug ring. You can tell they had fun filming this movie and I'm guessing there are a lot of ad-libbed lines. And they work. The pacing and energy is infectious.

It's a normal cop plot line. The DEA is infighting with the FBI and the regular cops. And there's someone on the inside blowing all the news. That's not original but it still works. We know the formula, but the key is the connection between the ladies. Their on-screen chemistry is awesome, and we root for them all the way. The Heat is summer cotton candy for the mind. Load up a bucket of popcorn and laugh from start to finish. The heat is ON!

Movie Review: This is 40

This is 40 - sheer laugh out loud funny. It's R - overuse of the "F" word, but other than that, if you are indeed forty or beyond, you will laugh yourself silly. Judd Apatow struck movie gold with Knocked Up and returns with a spin off using the Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann characters that we met before. Leslie Mann is Judd's real life wife and the girls playing the daughters - yep, their real daughters. Consequently, so many scenes feel like real life on the screen. The girls squabbling, the dad wondering what's going on, the wife frustrated at her life, the girls realizing the parents are fighting too much.
The movie has angst, but it gets resolved in comedy and doesn't suck you into depression. And it is just plain funny. Albert Brooks is Rudd's father. He's been mooching money forever and Rudd really needs to cut him off. But the man now has triplets that are around five years old and he uses that card on Rudd, the half brother. Mann's been distant from her father, John Lithgow, a very rich surgeon with a second family that he spends time with. Thus both Paul and Leslie have parent issues. They have money issues. They have communication issues.

And they have love. That's what it boils down to in a successful comedic way. They said, "Til death do us part," and yep, even on days they don't like each other and could be plotting the other's death (trust me, it's funny), they love each other and the girls. And yep, that sums up This is 40.

Stay through the credits for an outtake with Melissa McCarthy. The ad libs are hysterical as her scene escalates and she has everyone cracking up.

You'll walk out of the theater smiling.